Motivated by the current (2011) political climate in Wisconsin it seems reasonable to devote some time and effort to comment on issues and some of the hyperbole. So we in the public should do what we can to help focus "journalists" on delineating real facts versus spin. If you accept the spin you do not understand the policy implications.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Making "the open record" disappear ! Walker "seems" to provide political favors of $500,000 via WEDC to political contributors but by chicanery leaves no fingerprints.

We should go back to a 2 year term for governor. Under the original Wisconsin Constitution, governors were elected for a term of two years; in 1967, the constitution was amended to increase the term of office to four years, beginning with the governor elected in the 1970 election.[6] There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may hold. Wikipedia

I remember the "narrative" about efficiency ... but what it really did was take the take the governor's race out of ever coinciding with a "presidential race". Were any of us thinking about that at the time? Warren P. Knowles, a Republican, was governor at the time.

An obscure board overseeing state public records gave so little notice of a move to sharply limit electronic records that it appears to have violated the state's open meetings law, attorneys and open records advocates say.

The changes have already had an impact — they were used by Gov. Scott Walker's administration as a reason not to release records just one day after the action was quietly taken in August by the Public Records Board, which oversees the preservation and handling of government records.

On Aug. 25, the day after the board's vote, the Walker administration denied a records request from a newspaper for text messages, saying officials do not have to retain such "transitory messages."

The texts sought by the Wisconsin State Journal were linked to a $500,000 loan by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to Building Committee Inc., which was promoted by top administration appointees. ....